Chris Simms who? Colin Cowherd what? Adam Lefkoe where? THE 2021 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES HAVE CLINCHED A PLAYOFF SPOT. Led by Jalen “we need to see more” Hurts, and Nick “flower power” S-S-S-Sirianni, the birds have defied all odds. Dubbed as a bottom-five roster by most analysts in the preseason, the Eagles have answered all the questions that this season brought and have a dance with the elimination rounds. But as fun as it is to clown on all the flamboyantly cold takes from August, it is important to focus on winning now that we are there. After Saturday’s game versus Dallas, there will be about four teams the Eagles could realistically play on wildcard weekend.
Arizona Cardinals
Don’t let the Cardinals’ recent skid fool you, they are still a very dangerous team. Every player on their defense is scarily athletic. Their edge rushers Chandler Jones and Markus Golden have 20.5 of the team’s 11th ranked 40 sack unit. Budda Baker, Isaiah Simmons, and Jordan Hicks make running the ball or throwing over the middle on this team a tall task. They have helped in allowing the fewest rushing touchdowns in the league. The secondary is headlined by the grossly underrated Byron Murphy and impressive rookie Marco Wilson. As a unit, Arizona has forced and recovered the second most fumbles in the NFL, which does not bode well for our running backs that have had issues hanging on to the ball. If we match up against this team there aren’t many offensive avenues the birds can pursue.
Offensively, the Cardinals are not as scary as their reputation suggests. They are led by their pro bowlers in the backfield with QB Kyler Murray and RB James Conner. The reason this doesn’t scare me is that James Conner over the past few weeks has been slowed down by injuries if he has played at all (and his change of pace counterpart Chase Edmonds hasn’t been much healthier), and Kyler Murray has had quite a drop in production. His nagging ankle injury has slowed down his electric running ability, and the loss of number one target DeAndre Hopkins has made Kyler Murray more human. While the passing game has stayed afloat due to the sheer volume of quality receivers in Arizona, the biggest weapons the Eagles would have to plan for are an older, slower AJ Green and old pal TE Zach Ertz. I also personally do not believe Kliff Kingsbury is an amazing play-caller. Embarrassing losses to the Colts and Lions have shown how stagnant this offense can be even against subpar defenses. If the Eagles catch this offense on the wrong foot early, it can lead to a playoff win.
L.A. Rams
For some reason, Sean McVay has never bested the Eagles at home. Despite being one of the best play-callers in the game right now, the Eagles have had his number. This year might be different. WR Cooper Kupp has had one of the most productive seasons for a wide receiver in NFL history. To his opposite, Odell Beckham is having a career resurgence after punishing us for so many years in New York. To make things worse, the Rams just opened the practice window for RB Cam Akers just as their other great RB Darrell Henderson went down with a knee injury. This is all without mentioning the hall of fame trio on defense of Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, and mid season addition Von Miller. This is one of the most talented Rams squads in recent memory.
Despite all this, I like our chances. I can’t quite explain it, but I feel as if LA would not be prepared for us again. A few tidbits stand out. Last time Darius Slay lined up against Cooper Kupp, he held him to 1 catch for 5 yards. You have to wonder how Matt Stafford will hold up. Despite having a pro bowl caliber season, the QB has only three games (and lost all of them). You can argue that his supporting cast is better this year, but he has struggled down the stretch. In the past three weeks versus horrible/banged up defenses, Stafford has thrown just 5 touchdowns to 6 interceptions. The rams barely beat the Ravens practice squad this past week, and if that is indicative of signs to come, the Eagles could be in luck.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cards on the table, this is the one I want. I know, it is crazy to want to see Tom Brady in the playoffs but hear me out. Everyone thought going into the year that the Bucs were unbeatable and were for sure going right back to the bowl. But this season has been strange for Brady and co. Strange losses versus the Saints twice, WFT and almost to the New York Jets (all teams Philly has beaten by the way) is one thing. Then you look at the fact that they would currently be 5-11 if all their one score wins went the other way. One such one score win came against Philly in Week 6, where the birds were probably one Genard Avery taunting call and a few AB catches away from not losing 28-22.
Since that game, the Eagles have gone 7-3 led by the best rushing attack in the NFL. Of course, the Bucs are notorious for having a stout defense against the run, but even in that matchup when we were reluctant to run, we still finished with 100 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Imagine what we can do now with a rushing attack that leads the league in yards and touchdowns. This will open up the play-action game as well, which will work beautifully against a Bucs secondary that has caught a nasty injury bug this year.
While you should never underestimate Tom Brady, he will be short-handed even for his standards. Antonio Brown (who torched us) has been cut, Chris Godwin and Leonard Fournette are out for the year, and Bruce Arians now has a reputation for drama and playing players while they are clearly hurt. Brady will still have Mike Evans (who was also locked up by Darius Slay last time) and a now-healthy Rob Gronkowski, but will that be enough? Can Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, and Cyril Grayson be able to shoulder this offense? It will be as tough as possible for the GOAT, and the Eagles should be licking their lips at this opportunity.
Dallas Cowboys
As an Eagles fan, I will always want Dallas. But as a practical football fan, I think that this would be the worst-case scenario. If we are playing them, it means they probably beat us this Saturday. The Cowboys can beat you on the ground and through the air on any given Sunday. The last time they played us, they beat us so bad that Corey Clement was getting mop-up duty in garbage time. OC Kellen Moore will for sure get an HC job this offseason and for good reason. This offense ranks 4th in passing yards, 9th in rushing yards, and 2nd in total touchdowns. They have been efficient and scary, even without star WR Michael Gallup who is done for the year. That is before even mentioning the defense. Headlined by two DPOY finalists in Trevon Diggs and Micah Parsons, this Cowboys defense leads the NFL in interceptions. It is really hard to find any positives about playing this team, which has a real shot at winning the super bowl this year.
The x-factor for the Eagles, if this were to be the matchup, is Nick Sirianni. By this point, we will have seen this cowboys team twice. It will be up to the head coach to figure them out, and how we can exploit their weaknesses. I believe he can do it. When we played them last, we had no clue who we were as a football team. No direction, bad preparation, and bad execution doomed us. Since then, Sirianni has improved as a play-caller and coach every single week. We ran the ball with Miles Sanders two times for 27 yards against Dallas. That will change. Dallas was able to run for 160 yards last time. That will not happen again against this improved LB core that has allowed only the 7th least yards rushing in the league this year. It will be a legendary battle.
I, of course, want to say that we are going to win the super bowl this year. Realistically that will not happen. If we could shock the world and win a playoff game, that would be a beyond successful season.
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Jish Sokolsky is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Jish, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
